Device for facilitating the axial adjustment of rollers on printing presses



July 1957 w. E. FEATHERLY 2,800,649

DEVICE FOR FACILITATING THE AXIAL. ADJUSTMENT OF ROLLERS 0N PRINTINGPRESSES Original Filed June 24, 1950 IN V EN TOR.

M'ZMQM [mes] Wea'ihe/ig nited States Patent is DEVICE FOR FACILITATINGTHE AXIAL ADJUST- MENT 0F ROLLERS ON PRINTING PRESSES William E.Featherly, Athens, N. Y., assignor of one-half to John Burgio, New York,N. Y.

Substituted for abandoned application Serial No. 170,072, June 24, 1950.This application April 23, 1957, Serial No. 654,611

2 Claims. (Cl. 340282) The present invention relates to improvements inaccessories to rotary printing presses of the type which employsrevolving cylinders or longitudinal rollers for both the printing formand the impressional surface. More specifically, the invention relatesto a new and improved device for facilitating the axial adjustment ofrollers on printing presses. This application is a substitute of myabandoned patent application Serial No. 170,072, filed June 24, 1950.

Rotary presses are provided with pairs of parallel, cooperating rollers,one of which is a metal cylinder and the other of which is a so-calledcomposition roller of rubber or of any other suitable insulatingmaterial. The radial distance between both cylinders has to be adjustedfrequently, and it is important that this adjusting or setting is madeaccurately. Hitherto for this purpose a sheet of paper has been insertedbetween rollers, and it required colnsiderable skill and much time toset the rollers proper y.

One object of the present invention is the provision of a device of thecharacter described which will permit a more accurate and speedieradjustment of the rollers, than was possible hitherto, and which doesnot require any considerable amount of skill for a perfect and fastsetting or adjustment.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a device ofthe character described which is safe in operation and inexpensive tomanufacture, so that it can be sold at a very reasonable price and canbe used widely wherever rotary presses are in operation.

With the foregoing and other objects in View which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details ofconstruction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully describedand pomted out in the claims, it being understood that changes may bemade in the construction and arrangements of parts without departingfrom the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawing a preferred form of the invention has beenshown.

In said drawing:

Figure 1 is a fractional side elevational View, partially in the form ofa wiring diagram, of a preferred embodiment of my invention; and

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional fractional view on the line 22 of Figure1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

In the drawing the numeral 2 denotes a metal cylinder or a conductiveroller of a rotary press which is parallel to and cooperates with acomposition roller 4 of rubber or of any other suitable soft, insulatingmaterial. Other parts of the press are not shown. The numeral 6 denotesconductive bands of thin sheet metal whose main portions are circularand adapted for encompassing annular, spaced portions of the roller 4and whose end portions are parallel to each other and bent outwardlyfrom said main Patented July 23, 1957 portions, so as to formclip-shaped sleeve members. A screw 8 is extended through theextremities of each member 6 and connects thereto one end of a wire 10.Another wire 12, is connected to one terminal of each of a plurality ofelectrical signal lamps 14, while the second terminal of each lamp 14 isconnected to the other end of each wire 10.

A wire 16 is connected with one end to the conductive roller 2, and withits other end to one terminal of the lowvoltage coil of a transformer18. The high-voltage coil of the transformer 18 is connected to a sourceof current (not shown) by means of a pair of wires 20.

In order to adjust a pair of rollers, the screws 8 are removed from thebands 6 and the latter are laid tightly around the roller 4 in spacedrelation to each other. Then the end of each band 8 are connected toeach other and to a wire 10 by means of the screws 8, the wire 16 isconnected to the roller 2 or is grounded, and the transformer 18 isenergized. Then the rollers are moved more or less closely toward eachother until all the lamps 14 light up. Thereafter the rollers are turneda fraction of a revolution. If all the lamps 14 remain lit up duringabout one quarter of a revolution of the rollers, the setting iscompleted, and the bands 6 can be removed from the roller 4.

The removing of the bands 6 is done after removing therefrom the screws8 and bending straight each band 6 at one end, so that each band can bepulled out from between the rollers 2 and 4 without increasing thespacing between the rollers 2 and 4. The transformer 18 reduces thevoltage on the bands 6 to about six to twelve volts, so that the devicewill be safe and the operator cannot get any electric shocks while he ismanipulating the device. The lamps 14 are provided with low-voltagelight bulbs.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and diflierentembodiments of the invention could be made without departing from thescope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the abovedescription or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which as amatter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent in the United States is:

1. A device for facilitating the axial adjustment of rollers on printingpresses comprising a plurality of conductive sleeves adapted for beingplaced detachably in spaced relation from one another around annularportions of a composition roller of a printing press, a plurality ofsignal lamps each of which having its first terminal connected to one ofsaid sleeves, and a transformer having two coils one of which isconnected to a source of current while the other coil has one of itsterminals connected to all the second terminals of said lamps and hasits other terminal connected to a conductive roller which cooperateswith said composition roller.

2. A device of the character described comprising a plurality of thinconductive bands whose main portions are circular and adapted forencompassing annular portions of a non-conductive roller of a printingpress and whose end portions are parallel to each other and bentoutwardly from said main portions, a screw being extended through saidend portions of each band, a plurality of electric signal lamps each ofwhich has its first terminal connected to an end portion of one of saidbands by means of one of said screws, and a transformer having i i H2,800,849 r V s. 4 two coils one of which is connected to a source ofcur- References Cited in the file of this patent rent while the othercoil has one of its terminals con- UNITED STATES PATENTS nected to allthe second terminals of said lamps and 5 has its other terminalconnected to a conductive roller fifi ggj gi g 3 Whlch 1s parallelto andcooperates with said non-con- 2:395:39?) Brmiamine Feb. 1946 ductiveroller.

